What I Like About You
by GreenNoseRing
Summary: The team is stuck playing parents for a week! Looking after seven little kids, what could go wrong? With Cronus involved, anything! Tiny violence and some language. Minor romance.
1. We have to what?

Author's Note: Another short story! I have tons of these going around in my head and will be writing them out whenever I have writer's block for my current story. Which is often. Next chapter for "Original Heroes" will be up soon, I promise. Until then, enjoy this. It's not a shipping, merely a fun little story. However, there may be little snips romance throughout it as well as the end. Also, it has a song's name but it isn't a songfic. It's not going to be a long story, just a few chapters until I get more ideas for "Heroes".

Disclaimer: Still don't own Class of the Titans!

"Archie, you're going to have to admit defeat sooner or later," Atlanta laughed as she did another turn on the virtual car game.

"Never!" Archie told her as he pulled in front of the red-head's automobile.

Behind them, their friends were cheering, the boys for Archie and Theresa for Atlanta.

It was a cold Saturday night, and the team was spending their time inside the local arcade, much to the dismay of Theresa and Neil. Theresa thought video games, "taught bad values", while Neil complained that the flashing lights made it impossible to see his mirror in the event of a hair out of place. But apparently they were having fun shouting words of encouragement at their competing friends.

"Show him up, Atlanta!" Theresa screamed as Atlanta took the lead again.

"C'mon, Arch. Don't let a girl beat you!" Herry begged.

Theresa glared at her friend and punched him in the arm, which wound up hurting her more than Herry due to his large muscles.

"Christ the Lord," Theresa muttered, shaking her hand in pain.

A few minutes later, the race was over. Atlanta had won.

"Oh yeah, that's right," Atlanta laughed, getting off her seat and beginning to do a little victory dance, "In your face, oh ye-ah. Atlanta rules!"

"Is that right?" Archie asked, standing up and running over to her. He lifted up the skinny girl and began to spin her around above his head.

"What are you doing?" Atlanta screeched, "Archie, put me down! Archie! If you don't drop me right now….."

Archie continued chuckling at her dismay and continued twirling in a circle. Atlanta huffed in annoyance and fired her laser crossbow near his feet.

"What the _hell_ was that?" Archie asked, dropping Atlanta on the floor.

"That's what you get," Atlanta smirked, blowing the smoke away from her weapon.

The rest of the group started to laugh hysterically, so much so that they didn't realize what time it was. Finally, Jay was able to stop for a second to glance at the clock.

"Oh no," he said.

"What is it?" Theresa asked, touching his arm lightly.

"It's ten 'o' clock," he said, "We had to be back at the Brownstone a half-hour ago!"

"Oh man," Odie groaned, "Athena's gonna be so pissed!"

"Then we better get going," Archie said. The others nodded and raced out the door towards Herry's truck.

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"Everybody shut up," Jay warned as he slowly opened one of the dorm's windows from the outside. They weren't using the door in case the noise woke up a most-likely sleeping Athena.

Theresa and Atlanta both stifled giggles as they watched their leader try to boost himself through the window.

Archie went next; his ankle brace making a loud screeching noise as it scraped against the window pane.

"Will you be _quiet_?" Jay whisper-yelled. Archie responded with a gesture that looked like he was going to flip Jay the bird, but before he could, Atlanta kicked him in the back as she too slid through into the dorm. She turned around and pulled Odie in.

Neil and Herry both boosted Theresa up. The two boys then tried to go in at the same time, but, unfortunately, got wedged in too tightly to move.

"That looks cozy," Atlanta laughed.

"Shut up and get us out of here!" Neil told her.

Atlanta and Archie both grabbed Herry, and Jay and Theresa did the same with Neil.

"Oh my God, Herry! You weigh a ton!" Archie said, pulling as hard as he could on his brunette-haired friend's arm.

"Well, Neil ain't no feather either!" Jay grunted.

Finally, the four teenagers managed to get their friends out, but in the process sent Neil and Herry flying towards them and sending them all crashing to the floor.

"Jeez, Theresa!" Atlanta wheezed, "Get off my back!"

"Sorry," Theresa whispered, standing up.

All of a sudden, the light of the living room switched on. Everyone in the team swirled around to see Athena sitting in a big easy chair, wearing a blue bath robe and fluffy pink slippers and tapping her foot angrily.

"Where HAVE you been?" she asked, a furious tone rising in her voice.

"S-sorry, Athena," Jay stuttered, "We were at the, um…."

"Library!" Neil piped in, knowing that the goddess of wisdom wouldn't get them in trouble if she thought they were studying.

"On a Saturday?" Athena asked; her eyebrow's rising in an "You really expect me to believe that?" kind of way.

"We just lost track of time," Odie admitted, scratching the back of his head.

"Up to bed now!" Athena snapped, pointing a finger up the stairs. The seven muttered in annoyance and went to their separate rooms.

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The next morning, the teenagers were sitting around the kitchen table, waiting for Athena to issue their sentence.

And speak of the devil, in walked the goddess, still looking mad.

"I've decided what your punishment is going to be," Athena said flatly.

"Um, okay," Jay said.

Atlanta snapped her chewing gum and Archie leaned back in his chair.

"I've decided to leave the dorm for a week," Athena told them.

"Ha!" Neil laughed, "_This_ is your punishment?"

"I wasn't finished," Athena said calmly, "As you know, I'm the substitute for your parents while you're staying here, so I accept all responsibility for you. I cook, clean, and do all other things only your mothers would do for you. And you broke my trust by going back on my rules. Therefore, you are to take my responsibilities while I'm gone."

"So we're supposed to clean and make food and junk for ourselves while you're not here?" Archie asked.

"Oh, it's not just that," Athena smiled in a rather questionable way. The goddess snapped her fingers and a cloud of smoke appeared. Seven small outlines could be seen through the haze.

"Have fun," Athena winked, disappearing right before their eyes.

The seven forms in the smoke stepped into the group's view.

They were kids.

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"Mister," the tallest of the children said, tugging on Jay's shirt, "I'm scared."

The boy had thick brown hair and brilliant emerald-green eyes. He had on a blue sweatshirt and a pair of beige pants. One of his tiny fingers was stuck up his nose.

It wasn't long before each of the toddler's walked over to each member of the team.

"This isn't very fun," an Asian girl with short hair and pale skin complained to Herry.

"I'm hungry," a ginger-haired boy with dark eyes and freckles announced at Theresa.

"I don't like you," a blue-eyed girl with long chestnut hair told Atlanta.

"I want my mommy!" a dark-skinned girl with a black pixie cut bawled, clutching a very uncomfortable Odie's legs.

"I made a poop," a blonde-haired boy with a green cap told Neil.

A small baby with a sprig of blonde hair crawled up to Archie and began to chew happily on his brace.

"Um, not to be rude or anything…but who are you?" Theresa asked the group of toddlers.

"My name is Danny," the boy near Jay said, "That's Christy, Josh, Tara, Lily, Scott, and Tommy."

"Hi," Jay said, reaching his hand down to Danny. The kid reached out and shook it with his booger-incrusted fingers, "I'm Jay. My friends' names are Theresa, Herry, Atlanta, Odie, Neil and Archie." When Danny wasn't looking, Jay quickly wiped the snot on his palms off onto his jeans.

"Atlanta is a stupid name," Tara (the red-haired girl) told Atlanta, sticking her tongue out.

"Excuse me?" Atlanta snapped. Tara laughed and ran into the next room with inhuman speed, much like Atlanta's.

"Come back here you little monster!" Atlanta yelled as she darted after her.

The little girl beside Odie was still crying her eyes out.

"It's okay," Odie said kindly, patting the girl on the shoulder, "My name is Odie. You're Lily, right?"

Lily nodded, tears still streaming down he face.

"Do you like games?" Odie asked.

"Yes," Lily said, a smile on her face, "My favorite's Scrabble, but I like Monopoly, Tic-Tac-Toe, Yahtzee, and Boggle. I also like chess, but my daddy won't let me play it anymore with him because he says it gives him a headache. But I think it's 'cuz I keep beating him!"

"That's great," Odie told her, taking the girl's hand and leading her over to the games cupboard.

"I'M STILL BORED!" Christy (the Asian girl) shrieked.

"Well that problem can be solved, can't it?" Herry asked, "We'll just go and play a game with Odie and Lily."

"Noooooooooooooo!" Christy cried, "I don't like playin' games with Lily. She always wins!"

"Well….." Herry thought aloud, "Do you want to go over and meet my Granny?"

"No!" Christy snapped.

"She's got a dog," Herry said.

Christy considered for a minute. "Fine."

"What am I supposed to do with this one?" Neil whined, pointing at Scott, "He…..he….."

"Made a poop?" Theresa offered. Neil shook his head up and down.

"Well change him!" Theresa told the blonde.

Neil stared at her in pure horror.

"I'll help you," Theresa groaned. She turned down to look at the ginger-haired boy in her care. "Josh? Do you wanna come with me? We can get you something to eat after, okay?"

"Okay," Josh sighed. He let Theresa scoop him up and take him up the stairs. Neil followed, the very smelly Scott close behind him.

"I'm not that great with kids," Archie admitted, watching Tommy the baby still gnawing on his brace.

"Yeah, me neither," Atlanta told him, walking into the room, carrying Tara by the straps of her overalls. Tara looked angry. She reached her head over and used her small teeth to nip Atlanta's hand.

"Yow!" Atlanta shouted, dropping the girl, who ran off again laughing. "She _bit_ me! The tiny mutant bit me."

"Catch me if you can!" Tara called from somewhere far off.

"That's it!" Atlanta screamed, sprinting out of the room, "It's naptime!"

Archie smirked at Jay and picked Tommy up from under the armpits. The baby instantly began to cry.

"Crap! What did I do?" Archie asked nervously.

"Oooooooh! He said the 'C' word!" Danny gasped.

Archie shot Jay a look that said, "You can deal with this kid being permanently scarred for life" and then sat down on the couch with Tommy. Atlanta walked in the room yet again, carrying a now silent Tara.

"Dang, how'd you get her to shut up?" Archie asked as Atlanta plopped Tara into the computer chair.

Danny shrieked again at Archie's use of "curse words".

"I told her the boogeyman comes here at night to gobble up bad little girls," Atlanta announced proudly.

Tara was shaking in fear.

"You're mean," Archie told her, cradling a whimpering Tommy.

"What's wrong, honey?" Atlanta asked, walking over to where Archie and the baby were sitting and wiping Tommy's hair out of his face.

"I don't know what's wrong with him," Archie said, shaking the infant.

"Try burping him," Atlanta suggested.

Archie put Tommy's head on his shoulder and made rubbing motions on his back. The baby instantly calmed down and put his hand in his mouth.

"He's pretty cute when his face isn't red," Archie murmured.

"Guys, we've got a serious issue here," Jay said to them.

"Yeah, I'm not the world's greatest baby-sitter," Atlanta said, jerking her thumb at Tara, who was now curled up into a tight ball on her chair.

"No, I mean this whole thing," Jay told her, "Where did these kids come from? Who are their parents? Do they know they're children are here?

He looked down at Danny, who was sitting on the wooden floor staring thoughtfully at his green sneakers.

"Relax, Jay," Archie assured him, "I'm sure Athena wouldn't go all psycho and kidnap seven kids just to teach us a lesson!"

"You're probably right," Jay muttered. But then again, all of them knew just _what_ the immortals did to punish the ones who disobeyed them.

It was at that moment that Tommy decided to spit up all over Archie's hoodie.


	2. Dinner Disasters

Disclaimer: Me no owney!

Later that night, the team had managed to calm the kids down long enough to make dinner.

"So how was taking Christy to visit your granny, Herry?" Odie asked as he ripped lettuce into shreds for the salad.

"A disaster," Herry groaned, "She went mental and broke two stools. That kid has, like, super strength or something."

"Hmmm…sounds like someone else we know," Odie snickered, "Anyways, I shouldn't complain. Lily beat me at chess, checkers, AND Scrabble."

"What about _me_?" Neil asked, "Have any of you ever tried to change a diaper? It's disgusting!"

"It's pretty sad that a little kid can beat you at Scrabble, Odie," Archie teased from where he was chopping onions, completely ignoring the blonde-haired complainer.

"Shut up!" Odie called at him, tossing a dirty dish-cloth at his purple-haired friend.

"Hey, watch it will you?" Archie exclaimed as the towel landed on his shoulder. "My sweatshirt is already in the wash covered in baby barf. Let's try to keep the rest of me clean, shall we?"

Tommy gurgled happily as he piled up wooden building blocks at Archie's feet.

"What are you laughing at?" Archie snapped at him.

Tommy's chin trembled, than he started to cry.

"Archie!" Atlanta groaned as she scooped up the baby, "Leave him alone, he didn't do anything." She walked over to a chair and sat down.

"Don't listen to mean old Archie," Atlanta said, rocking Tommy back and forth. She planted a kiss on the infant's forehead and tickled his stomach. Tommy giggled and wrapped his arms around Atlanta's waist.

"Mama," he cooed.

"Awwwwwww," Theresa sighed, "You've got a real way with kids, Atlanta."

"Yeah," Atlanta mumbled, "A real way." She grabbed an angry Tara as she ran by, trying to swipe at Josh with her bare hands. Josh let out a sob and ran to hide behind Theresa's legs.

"What are you doing?" Atlanta asked.

"He scratched me!" Tara shrieked, showing Atlanta the small wound on her forearm.

"Josh…." Theresa warned.

"It was an accident," Josh insisted.

"No it wasn't!" Tara screamed at him.

"Yes it was!"

"No it wasn't!"

"Yeah!"

"No!"

"YEAH!"

"NO!"

Tara went to lunge at Josh again but Atlanta held her back.

"Here, you handle this," Atlanta told Archie, walking over to her friend and plopping the young girl into his arms.

"But….." Archie began. But it was too late. Atlanta had already returned to stirring a pot full of spaghetti sauce.

"What's wrong, kid?" Archie asked, setting Tara on the ground.

"Josh's stupid," Tara huffed.

"Yeah, guys tend to do be sometimes," Archie sighed.

"But you're a boy," Tara pointed out.

"That doesn't mean I'm not stupid," Archie told her.

Tara smiled for the first time since she arrived at the dorm. "You're funny," she giggled.

Just then, the tiny girl noticed a flash of gold coming from Archie's ankle. It was his ankle brace.

"You gots one too?" she asked, hands on her hips, tilting her chin at the armor.

"What do you mean?" Archie asked curiously.

"I wear one of those," Tara told him, rolling up her right pant leg. Sure enough, she also had a metal appliance supporting her. But Tara's was different then Archie's. Hers was silver, and unlike Archie's, whose leg brace stopped halfway up his calf, Tara's climbed past her small kneecap and fastened around the bottom of her thigh.

"Ouch," Archie winced, "Were you hurt when you were small? Err…..smaller?"

"No," Tara answered, pulling her the jean leg of her overalls back down. "My daddy says I've gotta bad heel."

"Things keep getting weirder and weirder….." Jay muttered under his breath.

"Oh my God!" Atlanta yelled as the sauce pot began to overflow.

"What did you _do_?" Theresa exclaimed as she went over to help her.

"I don't know!" Atlanta said angrily, trying to stuff the red mess back down with a wooden spoon.

"Well, THAT'S not going to work!" Theresa snapped as she snatched the utensil out of the red-head's grasp.

"What IS going to help then?!" Atlanta asked sharply.

"Up! Mama up!" Tommy whined as he tugged on Atlanta's cargo pants.

"No, 'Mama' is busy right now," Atlanta told him in an exasperated tone. "Go see Uncle Odie!"

The baby looked upset, but he crawled over to Odie anyways.

"Up?" he asked the short boy hopefully.

Odie picked the baby into the air and brought him over to Archie.

"How come everyone's giving the kids to _me_?" Archie fumed.

Odie shrugged and walked over to assist Theresa and Atlanta, who were desperately trying to stop the flow of the sauce.

"You could turn off the heat!" he barked at the two girls.

"We tried that!" Theresa fumed, "It just keeps coming!"

"Well, if you just….." Odie began. But before he could finish, a large bubble rising in the pot exploded, showering all three teenagers in the face with the liquid.

"Ha ha! You look funny!" Josh laughed.

"Suddenly, being covered in baby spew doesn't seem so bad," Archie sneered.

"Shut up," Atlanta smirked, scraping up a handful of the goo and pitching it at him.

Archie ducked just in time and the slop wound up striking Jay in the side of the face.

"Who…..threw that?" Jay gasped, wiping some of it off of his face.

Atlanta laughed as Archie pointed at her.

"It was an accident," she insisted, tears of hysterical amusement flowing down her face.

Jay walked over to the pot and stuffed some of the gunk in her face.

"So was that," he told her.

"Somebody's hoping for a death wish," Atlanta said, picking up the pot. But instead of dumping it on Jay, she poured it over Archie's head.

"What was that for?" Archie asked, "I didn't do anything!"

"Yeah, but you ducked earlier when I tried to hit you!" Atlanta replied.

Neil and Herry were clutching their stomachs in out-of-control laughter. The other children ran into the room to see what was so funny, and burst into giggles when they saw the state of Archie, Jay, Atlanta, Theresa, and Odie.

"Shut up," Archie said, taking two globs of sauce of his chest and throwing it at Herry and Odie.

"Hey!" Herry shouted.

"Aaaaaah! My new shirt!" Neil screamed.

"Me too! Me too!" Christy shrieked, gathering up some sauce from the floor and rubbing it on her stomach.

"This is fun!" Scott cackled as he scrubbed some through his hair.

It wasn't long before all the kids were rolling around in the slop.

"Oh no, you don't!" Atlanta said to Tommy as he began to gouge some into his mouth. But as she ran over, she slipped into the tomato sauce and crashed to the floor. Theresa tried to help her up, but doing so she fell over herself.

"This spaghetti thing was a REALLY bad idea!" Theresa complained as she tried to pull herself up.

"Who's up for pizza?" Herry suggested.

"And a bath?" Neil added.

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"You're the one who let him eat _six slices of pepperoni_!" Theresa barked, as Jay stared in disgust at the pizza-colored mess that Danny had left on the floor.

"I am NOT cleaning that up!" Herry exclaimed as he carried a messy Christy up to the bathroom.

"Oh no, you don't!" Neil shouted as he rushed by, clutching Scott, "This pint-sized fiend is dirtier than yours!"

"Not as bad as mine!" Odie yelled, running up the stairs and into the bathroom.

Herry and Neil bellows of anger as they went upstairs and began banging on the bathroom door, demanding that their charge be washed off first.

"There's another bathtub down here!" Atlanta hollered, but the two boys were two busy trying to force Odie out of the bathroom.

Jay let out a sigh of hesitation as he leaned down to mop up Danny's hurl with paper towels.

"Do it," Theresa ordered. Jay knew better than to argue. It took him five pain-filled minutes before he got it all cleaned up.

"I think I'm going to be sick again!" Danny moaned, clutching his stomach.

"Oh no! Danny! Don't you dare!" Jay yelled as the boy bent over.

Too late.

"Gross," Jay muttered.

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Atlanta couldn't sleep. And how could she? She'd been kicked out of bed and forced to try and snooze in an old sleeping bag while Tara was rolled up comfortably under HER sheets!

Just when she about to close her eyes and _try_ to slumber a bit, she heard a tiny voice calling her name.

"Atlanta?" the voice squeaked, "Atlanta? Are you awake?"

Atlanta realized that the voice was coming from Tara.

"Yep," Atlanta groaned.

"I can't sleep," Tara whispered, "I'm scared. Can I stay in there with you?"

"Are you crazy?" Atlanta asked, rolling over, "This thing's barely big enough for me, let alone the two of us!"

Tara's chin wobbled.

"Fine," Atlanta sighed, "I'll go up there, okay?"

"Okay!" Tara said happily.

Atlanta grunted a few times, then grabbed her pillow and walked over to her bed.

"Move over," she commanded as she climbed in.

Tara did so cheerfully and put her head on Atlanta's shoulder as soon as she lay down.

"What are you scared of exactly?" Atlanta questioned.

"The boogeyman that you said would get me," Tara answered.

"Tara, there IS no boogeyman," Atlanta told her, "I was just kidding."

"Okay," Tara said quietly, "Don't leave though, okay?"

"Sure," Atlanta laughed.

Tara talked again after a few minutes of silence.

"Atlanta? Do you think my little brother's okay?"

"Huh?" Atlanta yawned, "Who's your little brother?"

"Tommy," Tara replied, "Didn't you know that?"

Atlanta shook her head no, but as she looked at the little girl, she realized that she should have. The two kids had the same tanned, oval shaped faces, bright blue eyes, and button noses.

"I'm sure he's fine," Atlanta smiled, ruffling Tara's hair slightly.

"Okay," Tara said, rubbing her eyes. Then she bowed her head and started to sleep.

"Night, Tay," Atlanta murmured, wondering why the heck she just called Tara, "Tay".


	3. Bonding

**Disclaimer: Do I have to keep saying that I don't own Class of the Titans? I do, however, own Danny, Josh, Lily, Christy, Tara, Scott, and Tommy. And if anyone uses them without my permission I'll come over to your house and kick your butts!**

"Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!" Scott screamed in Neil's ear.

"Not before ten 'o' clock!" Neil shouted back at him, shoving a pillow over his head.

"Neeeeeeeeeiiiiiiiiiilllllllllllllll!" Scott whined.

Neil sat up and was about to tell the kid to bug off, but something about the little boy's prominent blue eyes forced him not to.

"Fine," Neil grumbled, throwing the blankets off himself.

"Yay!" Scott cheered. Then he walked over to Neil and jumped up onto his back.

"What. Are. You. Doing?" Neil asked slowly.

"Piggy back," Scott clarified.

"How about no?" Neil said, plopping the youngster back onto the bed.

Scott instantly began to pound him hands and feet onto the mattress.

"PIGGY BACK! PIGGY BACK! PIGGY BACK!" he shrieked.

"Fine!" Neil shouted over his cries, "I'll give you a freaking piggy back!"

Scott's tears instantly stopped and he clambered onto Neil's back again.

"Thank you!" he smiled sweetly, resting his chin on Neil's shoulder.

"Whatever," Neil grinned, "Just don't expect it too often."

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"Ahhhhhhh, the magic of cereal!" Jay said happily as he poured some Captain Crunch into a bowl in front of Danny, "No stoves, no mess. Just dump it in and eat!"

"Uh, uh," Danny said.

"Excuse me?" Jay asked over his shoulder as he went to get the milk.

"I don't like Captain Crunch," Danny explained, "I like Fruit Loops."

"Well, we don't have Fruit Loops," Jay told him, "Do you like anything else?"

"No."

"Great," Jay muttered, walking over to the cupboard to see if he could find a substitute. He came back a few minutes later holding various items, which he dumped on the table.

"Here," Jay said, showing Danny what he found. "We have Cheerios, sugar, and food coloring. Which is all basically what Fruit Loops are made of."

Danny stared at the containers for a few seconds.

"What now?" he asked.

"Mix them together," Jay instructed.

As Danny did so, Jay realized what a mistake he had made. The concoction didn't look like Fruit Loops at all. The sugar was sticking to the sides of the bowl, and all the food coloring had done was made the Cheerios even soggier. This was useless. Jay let out a frustrated sigh as he ran his hand through his bangs.

"You like waffles, kid?" he asked.

Danny nodded eagerly.

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Over in the next room, Odie was reading a large book that even HE had problems understanding. Lily walked into the room looking nervous.

"Odie?" she asked timidly, tugging on one of Theresa's old sweaters that she had used for a nightgown.

"Yeah?" Odie asked, looking up from his novel.

Lily walked over to him and cupped her hands around his ear.

"I wet the bed," she whispered.

"You _what_?" Odie asked, leaping up from the couch. Lily had been sleeping in HIS bed!

The girl began to cry.

"Oh no, please don't cry," Odie told her, "It's okay!"

Lily continued to sob.

"Lily……" Odie begged, "It's fine, really. We'll just clean up the bed and give you another bath, alright?"

"Okay," Lily told him, her tears slowly beginning to stop flowing.

The two walked up the stairs and towards the bathroom. Odie stood in the corner with his back turned while Lily took off her nightshirt.

"You done yet?" Odie asked, turning his head. Lily was already happily sitting in the bathtub, splashing her arms around.

"Watch me dunk my head underwater!" she told Odie.

"Okay," Odie laughed.

Lily continued to play for a few more minutes before Odie began to dump shampoo into her dark hair.

"Smells like apples," Lily announced, sniffing the hair.

"Yes. Yes it does," Odie concurred.

"I like apples," Lily said.

"Me too," Odie agreed.

"I can swim," Lily declared.

"Can you really?" Odie asked, not really paying attention.

"Yep," Lily answered, "My mommy taught me. She's an island princess. She has long hair, and dark skin, and…."

"You have a good imagination," Odie chuckled, "Your stories are amazing."

"It's true!" Lily insisted, crossing her arms.

"Yep," Odie smiled, "I believe you."

Lily stared at Odie for a second.

"I like you," she said.

"I like you too," Odie told her, helping the girl out of the bathtub.

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"Tommy!" Archie called down the hallway. "Tommy? Where are you?"

Archie was indisputably screwed. If yelling at the baby ticked Atlanta off, then losing him was most certainly a death wish.

"Tommy!" Archie shouted again. He heard a small gurgling sound coming from Herry's room and ran in there. Sure enough, Tommy was sitting on one of the open windowsills, cheerfully rocking back and forth.

"Hey! Stop it!" Archie yelled at him.

Tommy looked up at him and continued wobbling.

"No, I'm serious," Archie told him, "Tommy, stop. Tommy!"

Tommy still wasn't listening. And just as Archie thought, the infant teetered so hard that he toppled right out of the window.

With speed that even he didn't think he could muster, Archie ran over and grabbed the baby by the scruff of the neck before he could hit the sidewalk.

"If you're not more (grunt) careful you're going to be turned into road kill," Archie told Tommy as he lifted him back up.

"Scary," Tommy gasped.

"Yes, it's very scary," Archie said. He glanced down at Tommy's left knee, where he had a tiny scrape.

"You've got a bit of a boo-boo there," Archie said, gesturing towards the scratch. Tommy looked down.

"Ouchie," he whimpered.

"Yep," Archie cringed, "We'll get that cleaned up, alright?"

"Wite!" Tommy cooed.

Archie carried the tot into the bathroom and set him down onto the counter. Then the purple-haired boy walked over to the medicine cabinet.

"Band-aids, band-aids, band-aids," he murmured under his breath, "Where the _hell_ do we keep the band aids?"

"Hell! Hell!" Tommy echoed. Archie whirled around in shock.

"No!" he cried, "You're not supposed to learn words like THAT!"

"Hell! Hell!" Tommy repeated.

"Oh shit," Archie whispered.

"Shit!" Tommy boomed.

"Please stop now," Archie begged. Tommy instantly stopped talking.

"Thank you!" Archie cheered, walking back to the cupboard.

"Here we go!" he said, holding up a yellow band-aid with a pattern of black bats. He walked over to Tommy and promptly plastered it onto the infant's knee. Tommy examined it with much interest.

"Batman," Tommy told Archie, pointing to the band-aid.

"Batman, indeed," Archie said, picking Tommy up and walking him out of the room.

X0X0X0X0X0X0X0X0X0X0X0X0X0X0

Meanwhile, Theresa sat in front of the washing machine, tapping her foot impatiently.

"Whatcha doin'?" Josh asked, coming up from behind her.

Theresa jumped, and crashed her head into the large appliance.

"Ouch," she muttered, rubbing where she had been hit. "Hey, Josh. I'm just washing some clothes."

"Can I help?" Josh asked.

"There's not really much to do," Theresa told him.

"Oh," Josh said, without even a hint of disappointment. He walked over to Theresa and plopped himself onto her lap.

"What do we do now?" Theresa asked, still staring at the washing machine.

Josh placed his head against Theresa's chest and tilted his head up so that they were eye to eye.

"Tell me a story," he ordered.

"Okay," Theresa giggled, "Once upon a time, there was a beautiful princess…"

"No," Josh interrupted, "No princesses. Princess stories are for sissies."

Theresa laughed. "Alright. Once upon a time, there was a little boy named Josh."

"Big boy," Josh corrected.

"Big boy," Theresa approved, "Anyways, this _big_ boy named Josh was so brave and strong. He wasn't afraid of ANYTHING. But there was one thing that made Josh a little scared sometimes. Can you guess what that thing was?"

"Bullies?" Josh guessed.

"That's right," Theresa mused, "Bullies made even Josh feel a _tiny_ bit scared sometimes. But one day, when Josh's daddy took him to the playground, Josh saw that a mean kid was picking on a smaller kid. And do you know what Josh did?"

"Told his daddy?"

"Hmmm…..That would have been a good thing to do. But Josh was so mad that a bigger kid was picking on a little kid, that he marched right up to that bully, and told him to stop it. And what did that bully do?"

"Stuck his foot down Josh's throat?"

Theresa paused to laugh. "No, he didn't stick his foot down Josh's throat. The bully looked at Josh with his big bully eyes, and then just walked away. You see, when someone stands up to a bully, that person realizes that maybe they weren't as brave as they thought they were. It was Josh who was really the brave one for standing up for someone who needed him."

Josh looked up at Theresa again.

"That's my favorite story now," he told her.

"It's a good one," Theresa beamed, ruffling the boy's ginger curls. A small _ding!_ came from the washing machine.

"Laundry's done."

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"This is boring!" Christy whined as she watched Herry put a new fan belt inside his truck.

"Do you want to help me?" Herry asked.

"No," Christy said.

"Well….I'm almost…..done!" Herry exclaimed with much enthusiasm. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a rag to wipe his face, which was covered in grease.

Christy clambered to the top of the truck and laid there, her head cupped in her hands.

"What are you doing?" Herry asked.

"Sittin'," Christy replied.

"You're going to fall," Herry warned.

"Then you'll catch me."

"No I won't."

Christy stuck her tongue out at Herry and rolled over onto her back. Herry muttered a few curse words under his breath and climbed up to the top of the vehicle to get the kid down.

"Okay, Christy, this was fun," Herry said, "But now I have to get you down."

"Arm wrestle me first," Christy commanded.

"Are you kidding?" Herry asked, "You're just a little girl!"

Christy smiled and shook her head. "I can kick your butt!"

"We'll see about that," Herry chuckled, positioning his elbow against the hot metal of his truck. Christy placed her hand in his.

"I'll try to go easy on you," Herry told her. But before he even moved, Herry felt his arm being slammed under the weight of Christy's.

"What the heck?" Herry stuttered, "How'd you do that?"

Christy threw back her head and laughed.

"We're doing this once more," Herry said, grabbing Christy's tiny hand.

Christy smiled mischievously and beat Herry _again_!

"Uncle! Uncle!" Herry shouted as Christy pressed his arm harder into the top of the truck, "Jeez, Christy. You're as strong as me!"

"Again," Christy instructed.

Herry laughed and propped his arm up again.


	4. Catastrophe

**Author's Note: Thank you for all your very positive reviews! Many of you have asked if the kids are the team member's children. Hmmmmm…… very good question. But how is this possible? I don't remember Atlanta and Theresa getting pregnant do you? So the answer is……..WAIT AND SEE! By the way, did anyone on the Canadian front watch "See You At the Crossroads"? (Very dumb question, of course you all did!) I LOVED IT! Hecate wasn't really what I expected her to be, though. Other than that, it was a pretty rocking episode! I loved Neil's little magic act and Archie pulling Atlanta out of the TV. Nice little moment there. Smiles all around!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own this TV show! I just own Danny, Lily, Christy, Tara, Tommy, Josh, and Scott! And love them for it!**

"Um, Jay, we've got a problem," Atlanta said as she carried Tara into the kitchen. "What do we do with the munchkins while we're at school?"

"Well, we're excused today for extra training, remember?" Jay reminded her, "The kids can just sit around and wait for us."

"Yeah," Archie told him, entering the room with Tommy, "We'll just give them candy bars and lighters to occupy themselves!"

"Funny," Jay smirked. Atlanta giggled and boosted Tara further up her hip.

"They could always….train with us," Archie suggested, rubbing the back of his head.

"Are you serious?" Atlanta asked, "No offense, Arch, but I don't think I trust these guys with weapons!"

"Me neither," Jay grimaced as he watched the syrup Danny was pouring onto his waffles begin to flow over the sides of his plate, "We'll leave them with Hera."

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"Today we'll be starting with an exercise that you may not be used to!" Ares announced as he paced the gym, walking up to a large wooden bin on wheels. He reached in and took out a white ball.

Archie let out a large chuckle, which he instantly silenced with his hand.

"What is it that is so funny, Archie?" Ares said, annoyed.

"Volleyball? How is being able to spike going to help us against Cronus?" Archie asked, still laughing. Theresa elbowed him in the ribs.

"Volleyball isn't all about your returning," Ares told him, "It's also about hand-eye coordination and your speed skills." The god of war threw the ball with all the strength he could muster into Archie's chest.

"Ooooof!" Archie groaned, falling backwards as he felt the wind get knocked out of him.

"Jeez, Ares must have not taken his happy pills this morning," Atlanta whispered to Archie as she pulled him to his feet. As soon as he stood up, they both realized the Atlanta was still gripping Archie's hand. The two friends both looked at their encircled fingers and quickly pulled away at the same time.

"Sorry," Atlanta muttered.

"No problem," Archie said, a smile trying to force itself out at the back of his mouth.

"If you two are done talking, can we please start the game?" Ares asked, his eyes narrowing.

Archie and Atlanta both turned bright red.

"Archie, Herry, you're captains," Ares ordered, "Choose your teams."

"Jay," Herry selected.

Jay walked over to Herry as Archie playfully tapped his finger against his chin, pretending to size up the others when they all knew who he was going to choose.

"Atlanta," he picked.

Atlanta smirked at Archie as she stepped up beside him.

"Theresa," Herry said.

"Neil."

"Odie."

"Oh great, picked last again," Odie grumbled as he walked over to Herry's team.

"They're going down, guys!" Atlanta shouted, snatching the volley-ball out of Archie's hands.

"As soon as you set the nets up!" Ares told her.

"That….sucks," Atlanta said.

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Meanwhile, Hera had decided to take the kids to the park. She had Tommy held in her arms and was being pulled on her free hand by Christy.

'_They are so precious,'_ Hera thought, _'And so full of spirit! Just like their parents! Maybe I shouldn't have doubted Athena's decision to bring them here!'_

"Look at that! Look at that!" Josh yelled, snapping Hera out of her thoughts. Josh was standing behind a tree, jumping up and down excitedly and pointing at something in the distance. Hera took the rest of the youngsters over to where Josh was to get a glance at what he was looking at.

As soon as Hera did this, she gasped in surprise and horror. Cronus was standing several yards away, talking to two of his giants.

"Ssssssshhhh," Hera whispered to the children, covering her mouth with one of her fingers. The goddess craned her ears to listen to what her father was saying.

"I don't know how they got here!" Cronus spat at one of his servants, "But they won't be here for long! Get some of your friends and see to it that they're destroyed!"

Hera's heart sank. She knew that he was talking about Josh and the others, and she wasn't going to let Cronus have them. She beckoned for the kids to follow her and together they raced back to the school.

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"Ahhh!" Neil shouted as the volleyball sailed towards him. Archie ran over to him and hit it over the net before it slammed the blonde boy in the face.

The game was in full play. The rules were all sorted out and Theresa had gotten Chiron to lend them his stereo so they could listen to the radio while they "trained".

"The ball's not going to bite you, Neil," Archie groaned. Neil still had his arms pulled over his head in a cowering position.

"I know that!" Neil snapped, "I think I'm more worried of it knocking me into a coma, thank you very much!"

Atlanta grunted as she punted the ball over to Jay, who missed it by a few inches.

"Ha!" Atlanta cheered, running over to get the volleyball from Jay so she could serve.

"Lucky shot," Jay told her.

"Well, expect more 'lucky shots' where that came from!" Atlanta stuck her tongue out. She threw the ball up into the air and over-hand served it.

The ball easily went over the net and towards Theresa, who was about to return it when the doors of the gym burst open. Hera rushed in, accompanied by the kids.

"Hera, what is it?" Jay asked, going up to her. Hera paused to catch her breath.

"We have….to……get the children out of here," Hera panted, holding her hand to her heart.

"Why?" Theresa asked as Josh ran over by her side.

"Cronus is after them," Hera explained.

"WHAT?" the whole team yelled.

"That's ridiculous, what would Cronus want with them?" Odie asked.

Hera bit her lip. "You'll just have to trust me."

"Well, what do we do?" Archie said, "We can't exactly fight Cronus and protect them at the same time!"

"Exactly," Hera frowned, "Which is why you'll have to get out of here for awhile. At least until Athena returns. She's the one who brought the kids here, and so she's the only one who can take them back."

"Take them back where?" Jay asked, "Where are they from?"

"I can't say now," Hera said, "But it would be disastrous if they were not brought back. I've told Chiron to get you all bus passes up to where we've arranged you to stay for the next few days."

The teenagers nodded, knowing better than to argue with the queen of the gods, and filed out of the room to pack their things, the children trailing after them.

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"This is terrible," Theresa whispered. The seven were all standing in the living room after they'd spent about two hours packing for their journey. Danny, Christy, and Josh were all sleeping on the sofa, with Scott and Lily curled up in a homemade bed on the floor. Tara and Tommy were coiled together on an easy chair; Tara's arm tucked protectively around her little brother.

Theresa looked sadly over at the sleeping children, her eyes filling with silent tears.

"Why would _anyone_, even Cronus, want to hurt them?" she asked, "They haven't done anything. They're just babies!"

The tall girl sat down on the floor and leaned against the wall. Jay slid down beside her.

"It doesn't matter what Cronus wants," Jay said, "He's not going to get them. We won't let him touch a hair on their heads, okay?"

Theresa nodded.

"Well, I think it's time for bed you guys," Jay informed the team. "We have to get up bright and early tomorrow!"

"I don't know about you guys, but I think I'm going to sleep here," Atlanta said, carefully sitting on the chair beside Tara and Tommy.

Jay nodded. "I think we all should."

The others smiled and all found a spot on the floor to lie down on.

_**Short chapter, sorry! Next one will have plenty 'o' action and "cute moments".**_


	5. The Trouble Thickens

**Disclaimer: I don't own Class of the Titans!**

"Jay!" Theresa muttered, touching their leader's shoulder lightly.

"What?!" Jay shouted, sitting straight up in his seat, "I'm awake! Just resting my eyes for a second."

Theresa shook her head in disbelief, although there was a smile crossing her lips. Josh sat on her lap, curling a lock of the girl's ginger hair between his tiny fingers.

It was five thirty in the morning, and the group had only gotten up a half-hour earlier in order to catch their bus. Now practically all the kids were fast asleep, and the team wasn't doing much better. Herry jumped every time the bus pulled over to a stop, asking if they had crashed. Odie kept falling asleep onto his book, which was annoying considering he was chewing gum and managed to get his mouth stuck to the pages every time he aroused. Archie and Atlanta were leaning up against each other, their eyelids slowly drifting closed. The only one who was wide awake was Neil, who had chugged down a whole pot of coffee before the others could even get a sip.

And as you can imagine, Neil on caffeine wasn't a good thing.

"Hey. Hey, Archie?" Neil whispered, poking the purple-haired boy in the arm, "Archie? Archie? Archie, Archie, Archie, Archie, Arch…."

"WHAT?" Archie roared at him.

"Are we there yet?" Neil asked.

"NO!" Atlanta shouted. Neil stared at her, his eyes going so wide that you could see the veins in them. He grabbed Atlanta's wrists and began shaking her.

"Whoa, Atlanta!" Neil screamed, "Something's happening! I can see RIGHT THROUGH YOU!"

"Stop it, Neil," Atlanta warned, pushing him away.

"Oh my God, guys! The sky is HUGE!" Neil squawked, looking out the window.

"Seriously, shut up," Archie told him. He could have used the excuse that Neil was pissing off the other passengers, but they seemed to be the only ones crazy enough to ride a bus so early in the morning.

"The bus is shaking!" Neil screamed, beginning to rock back and forth on his seat.

"SHUT UP!" the whole team shouted. Neil stared at them and then slumped into his seat, his eyes snapping shut. Odie walked over to him and started waving a hand in front of the blonde's face.

"Neil?" Odie said quietly, "Neil? Hello?"

Neil rolled over and began to snore.

"And THAT'S what happens when you drink too much coffee," he said to Lily (who was now awake from Neil's screaming) as he sat down beside her.

Lily giggled and clapped her hands.

The bus driver pulled over again. Herry shouted in terror and covered his head.

"We didn't crash, Herry," Jay yawned, stretching his arms into the air.

"But why aren't we moving?" Theresa asked, peering over Jay's head, "We're not at a stop, are we?"

"Not unless we're picking up a bear," Atlanta said, observing the trees and mountains that surrounded them.

"What's the holdup?" Archie shouted at the bus driver. The middle-aged, black haired man was staring out of the windshield in pure horror. Then he screamed loudly and ran out of the vehicle.

"That's not good," Odie muttered. Archie stood up and slowly walked to the front of the bus. His face turned white when he saw what had scared the bus driver so badly. He turned around and motioned for his friends to get out. The others looked over and saw that Cronus and three of his giants were standing just outside the shuttle.

"We need to go," Jay said, "Everybody out the emergency exit."

The teenagers nodded and each picked up a kid. Herry got Scott as well as Christy since Neil was in no condition to carry anyone. Archie quickly ran over and grabbed Tara and followed his friends out of the bus.

Cronus's giants began to shake the large transport, still thinking the kids were inside.

"Oh crap," Jay muttered.

"What?" Odie asked, trying to calm down a crying Lily.

"Neil's still inside," Jay answered. The others gulped as they watched the monsters begin to push the bus towards a nearby embankment.

"I'll get him," Atlanta said, handing Tommy to Archie.

"No, you won't," Theresa told her, pulling on the red-head's arm, "That's suicide."

"Maybe," Atlanta said, "But I'm faster than all of you. I'll be in and out. I promise."

Theresa bit her lip, but let go off the girl nonetheless.

Atlanta smiled gratefully and raced towards the bus.

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"Neil!" Atlanta shouted, trying to shake the boy awake, "You have to get up now!"

Neil murmured a few words under his breath about needing more beauty rest and continued to sleep away.

Atlanta let out a small gasp when she realized that the vehicle was almost to the ledge.

"I am NOT carrying you Neil!" Atlanta barked. But it looked like she was going to have to. She hooked one of Neil's arms over her shoulder and began to drag him towards the exit.

But just when the two were about three feet away from their freedom, Atlanta felt the bus tip and begin to roll down the steep hill.

"ATLANTA!" Archie cried, beginning to run after the bus, still clutching the two kids in his arms. The others followed him, their shouts able to be heard from miles away.

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"You IDIOTS!" Cronus screeched at his giants, "The children weren't in there! What's the matter with you? Didn't you see that they'd escaped?"

The giants hung their heads. Cronus gazed down to where the teenagers had arrived at the bus.

"Rest well tonight, kids," the god smiled. "Tomorrow is another day."

Cronus threw his head back and laughed, then opened a black portal to which he and his giants disappeared into.

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Down at the bottom of the hill, the team was freaking out that two of their friends were potentially dead. The vehicle had rolled over on its back, and several of the windows had smashed.

"I'm going in," Archie said, walking towards the bus. He lifted one of his legs over one of the broken windows and slid himself inside. The tall boy whacked his head on a piece of chipped glass posed right over him, slicing into his skin and making blood drip down onto his hair.

"Mother effing frigger," he muttered, feeling the place where he had been cut. The warm red liquid shot from the wound and ran through his fingers. He was about to curse again when he noticed Neil and Atlanta off in a corner. Neil was still, amazingly, asleep. He was also completely unharmed.

"Lucky son of a bitch," Archie said to himself.

Atlanta didn't have it so lucky. She was conscious, but her right leg was pinned by a fallen seat cover. She too had been cut by some broken glass, and the front of her shirt was completely stained by blood.

"Archie!" she shouted when she saw her friend, "Help me!"

Archie immediately ran over and pulled the seat off his companion.

"Do you feel okay?" he asked, helping Atlanta up.

"Don't think so," Atlanta said, clutching her stomach, which had ceased bleeding but still looked pretty bad.

"Let's get you two out of here, alright?" Archie smiled.

"Okay," Atlanta said quietly. She felt….dizzy. Probably from lack of blood.

Archie groaned in aggravation as he dragged Neil to the nearest door. Atlanta followed, still holding her wound.

Archie dumped Neil onto the ground outside the bus and helped Atlanta out. The others ran over to her.

"Are you okay?"

"What happened to your stomach?"

"Does it hurt?"

"Should we call Chiron?"

"Zzzzzzzzzzzz." (That came from Neil)

Scott leaned over besides Neil and positioned his mouth right near the teenager's ear.

"WAKE! UP!" he screamed. Neil shrieked and sat straight up.

"What's happening?" Neil asked, his head darting around, "Where's the bus? Where are WE? What happened to _you_, Atlanta?"

"The same thing that's gonna happen to you if you don't shut your trap," Atlanta grumbled, holding up a fist. Tara giggled and ran over to hug her friend.

"Ooof, not to hard, okay squirt?" Atlanta asked as Tara buried her face into the girl's middle.

Archie stared over at Atlanta with empathy, and then slid off his sweatshirt and the white muscle shirt beneath it.

"Here," he said, tossing Atlanta the white one.

"What's this for?" she asked.

"Your shirt's stained with blood," Archie pointed out. Atlanta peered down.

"So it is," she said.

The red-head began to slide off her T-shirt, but stopped when she realized the boys were still looking at her.

"Well, turn around!" she barked. The boys quickly covered their eyes and turned to face the other way. Atlanta murmured some curse words under her breath as she slid the clean shirt over stomach. It was pretty long; almost going a quarter's length down her jeans.

"Thanks," Atlanta smiled at Archie. She slid her stained T-shirt under the muscle shirt and tied it to make a sort of bandage for her injury.

"Isn't anyone concerned about _me_?" Neil whined, "I was in the bus too!"

Everyone ignored him.

"C'mon, you guys," Jay ordered, "I think we can find this cabin by nightfall. It can't take us too long."

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Unfortunately, Jay was wrong. It did take a long time. Fourteen hours to be exact. So by the time the heroes did find the shelter Hera had provided them, the sun had set and the team could hear wolves howling in the distance. All the kids had to be carried, but none of them were tired enough to actually go to sleep.

"Are we there yet?" Christy asked, her head resting against Herry's chest.

"There! There!" Danny cheered happily from the top of Jay's shoulders. He pointed at the small house in the distance.

"That's it?" Theresa asked. She dropped Josh, who instantly began to run up to their home for the next few days. "You have got to be kidding me. That wouldn't even fit three of us."

"Well, the rest of us could always sleep outside if you need your own space," Archie suggested sarcastically. Theresa smirked and stuck her tongue out at him.

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"Home sweet home!" Odie announced as he swung the door open to the house. Dust immediately sprung from the wooden floor and off nearby furniture, which made Odie start to cough.

"This place is gross," Neil complained as he came inside. Jay walked past him and began to walk around the house.

"There are two bedrooms," he called from down a small hallway.

"What about a bathroom?" Herry asked. He looked down at Christy, who looked like she really had to pee.

"Nope," Jay answered, walking back to the main room, which had a living room and kitchen.

"EXCUSE ME?" Neil shrieked, "You mean, we have to go _outside_?"

"Looks like it," Atlanta said, coming in after Archie, who was carrying both Tara and Tommy since Atlanta couldn't support either of them against her gash.

"Bed time, guys," Jay said to the kids, picking up Danny and carrying him to one of the rooms.

"I don't wanna go to bed," Tara pouted, putting her hands on her hips.

"Well, you're gonna," Archie told her, following Jay into the kid's room.

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Putting the kids to bed proved more difficult than its worth. Christy held on as tight as she could to one of the bunk bed's steps, and when Herry tried to pull her off, they wound up breaking it off with their combined strength. Tommy wouldn't stop crying and Tara had escaped out of the cabin and it took the team an hour before they found her up a tree almost a mile from the house.

"What have we gotten into?" Jay asked as he slid into one of the lower bunks.

"Tell me about it," Theresa groaned, climbing in the bed above his.

Atlanta stepped into the room and slid across the floor, wearing only the shirt Archie had given her that morning. She paused for a minute, and then kneeled down onto the ground.

"Are you okay?" Archie asked, leaping off of his bed and going over to her.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Atlanta told him. Another wave of dizziness hit her again and she laid her body against the ground. Odie walked over and placed the back of his hand against Atlanta's forehead.

"You're not okay," he told her, "You've got a fever.

"A fever?" Herry said, "From what?"

"Does she have an infection?" Jay asked, "But how is that possible? Her cut couldn't do it that fast."

"There have been some cases where an infection spreads rapidly," Odie said, "And unfortunately, this is one of those cases."

"Oh my God," Archie muttered, brushing Atlanta's sweating bangs out of her face, "This is bad, guys. This is really bad."


	6. A Less Than Usual Night

**Author's Note: Even though I haven't really written many Jay/Theresa moments, I've made this chapter a half-and-half between the two couples. This was not of my own willing, it was for Suk-fong, who wanted it.**

**Quote-**

**Suk-fong: no Jay and Theresaness?**

**-End Quote**

**Then I felt bad for all the J/T fans who are reading this because the story had been mostly A/A so far. Seriously, the only cutesy pie moment I remember between Jay and Theresa is that part on the bus. And that wasn't even technically a moment! It was Jay being un-alert and falling asleep and Theresa waking him up! Man I'm annoying!**

**So I made a Jay/Theresa moment in this story, even though it's sort of tiny. Please don't hate me; there will be more later on. This story is turning romanceier than I planned it to be, which is seriously pissing me off.**

**Chapter dedicated to Suk-fong for inspiring me to actually write a J/T moment for once! **

**Disclaimer: Me still no owney!**

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"Get a wet cloth," Jay ordered. Herry immediately sprang to life and sprinted to the kitchen. Running water could be faintly heard a moment later.

"What else can we do?" Archie asked. Atlanta's head was resting in his lap.

"First of all, we can move Atlanta to that couch in the sitting room," Odie told him, "I think she'll need some space."

Archie nodded, and with the assistance of Neil, moved the petite girl to the sofa. The two boys then got a pillow and some warm blankets for their friend, the others followed. Atlanta responded to all this by muttering things the group couldn't understand.

Odie walked over to the red-head and began to raise her shirt.

"What the _hell_ are you doing?" Archie asked angrily, slapping the boy's hand away.

"Looking at her cut," Odie said slowly and calmly. Archie's face softened and he apologized to his teammate. Odie smiled to say, 'I forgive you', and began to inspect Atlanta's wound.

It was pretty gross. The injury was bright red and had again begun to pulse with blood. The area around the sore was a sickly shade of green.

"Oh my goodness," Theresa whispered, cupping a hand to her mouth. Jay put his arm on her elbow in what was meant to be a comfort way, but also sent shivers up and down Theresa's spine. She turned to her friend and looked into his eyes.

'They're so brown,' Theresa thought, 'Like an Aero bar or something…'

What the heck was she doing? Was she actually comparing a guy's eyes to a _candy bar_? What was her problem? It was so….

But her thoughts were interrupted when she realized Jay was leaning in towards her. Theresa could feel her eyes fluttering closed. Their lips were almost touching…..

When Herry burst in with the cloth Jay had told him to get.

_Damn it!_

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Archie looked down at the kettle of water that was boiling on the ancient gas stove and sighed unhappily. Atlanta still hadn't gotten any better. In fact, she had taken a turn for the worse. Luckily, she was now fully conscious, but was utterly exhausted and dehydrated. Odie had said that only Atlanta could be fully alert while her body was going through so much pain.

Since Archie had volunteered for Atlanta watch, the rest of his friends had gone to sleep. The sick girl was curled up on the couch, her eyes wide open. Archie had told her to rest, but she insisted that she wasn't tired, even though anyone could tell that she was exhausted.

Steam began to erupt from the kettle. Archie took it off the stove and poured into a bright yellow mug with a picture of a smiling cat on the side. Then he took a small tea bag that he had found in a box in one of the many cupboards of the kitchen and dunked it in the hot water. He stirred the liquid around and went to take it to Atlanta.

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"What's this?" Atlanta asked, trying to sit up as Archie entered the room.

"Tea," Archie told her, handing her the mug. Atlanta peered into his containments suspiciously, and then held the liquid away from herself, her eyes narrowing in disgust.

"Drink it," Archie ordered, "You need some nourishment in you."

Atlanta looked into the mug again and gulped down the tea as quickly as she could without barfing.

"Now was that really that terrible?" Archie asked, walking over to where he had placed a mattress on the floor next to the couch Atlanta was lying on.

"Yes," Atlanta smirked, laying her head down on her pillow. Archie laughed and sat down onto his bed. Atlanta turned over so she could face her friend.

"What time is it?" she yawned, stretching her arms over her head.

"Twelve thirty," Archie told her, "What, you tired?"

"No," Atlanta replied.

"Liar."

Atlanta rolled over again so that she was staring at the ceiling.

"Hey, Arch?" she said.

"Yeah?" Archie asked tiredly as he pulled his blankets over his shoulders.

"How do you do it all the time?" Atlanta whispered.

"Do what?"

"Never giving up," Atlanta said, "How come you never lose faith? You always just keep going. Like with the Seeper…."

"I had help," Archie reminded her, remembering Hope.

"I know that," Atlanta said, "But you also helped me with Pan and Arachne. And that wasn't Hope, Archie. That was you. Don't you fear anything?"

"Water."

"But that's not a fear," Atlanta told him, "That's an obstacle that you'll get over soon enough."

She buried her head in her pillow and closed her eyes. Archie rolled over and stared at the sleeping girl until he got the nerve to speak out.

"You wanna know what scares me?" he asked, "What scares me is _you_. You're the most head-strong person I know, Atlanta. And that scares the shit out of me. I can't go through a day without wondering if you're alright. I can't sleep sometimes because I'm scared that you're not going to be there when I wake up. I realized that a few days after I met you. I've spent all my life blocking people out because I thought if they got too far in, they'd turn against me. I didn't believe I could save the world at all. I tried to escape, remember? I tried to leave on a selfish whim. Most people would have talked to me to tell me not to go. But you know what convinced me? You slamming me to the ground thinking I was a burglar. And I knew that if I did try to run off, you'd kick my ass. I've never met a girl who's had that attitude before. It was freaking awesome! Then some guy came along and tried to take you, and it made me so angry. He made it seem like you were his property or something. I didn't like that at all, but then I thought to myself that's exactly what might happen to me if we did get together. You don't need anyone to make you happy, Atlanta, and that's what I'm scared of. Ruining what we have know because of a feeling that may or may not be mutual. I love you, okay?"

Archie punched his pillow hard, wishing that he wasn't so stupid as to say those things to a sleeping Atlanta. Yearning that he could confess his feelings when she was actually awake.

Little did he know that she was.

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_**Sorry the chapter is so short! I had a ton of homework I wanted to get out of the way plus I was doing extra rehearsal for my drama presentation. We're doing "The Cell Block Tango" and I need to get my moves done right! More later, I promise. Less mushy, more action and humor! **_


	7. Another Attack

**Disclaimer: I don't own the team, but their children belong to me. Hmmm…. May have to re-word that one. I also own this idea! So don't steal that either!**

**This is the second to last chapter, peoples. And an incredibly crappy one at that. So don't be mad. **

**Chapter dedicated to Always A Legend, Jasmin-Newfie, Suk-fong, dizzy5, iheartyou07, princessofoyownworld, and story goddess for all having this story on their favorites list. Thanks for the support guys! **

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The next morning, Odie had gotten up early to make breakfast. He didn't think anyone could sleep over Neil's loud snores, but apparently he was wrong. Herry was curled up cozily with his teddy bear (that he THOUGHT no one had seen him pack) under the crook of his arm. Jay was crouched into a ball in a bottom bunk, with Theresa snoozing above him, her long hair falling in her eyes.

When he checked on the kids, Odie saw that they were all crammed in a master bed that was most likely meant for the adults of the cabin. Every so often, once of the children would shove another further away from him or her in a tired manner.

Atlanta was still sleeping as well, her blankets covering her red head entirely. Archie wasn't in his bed, though.

'Must be going to the bathroom,' Odie decided. He walked into the kitchen and over to the refrigerator.

He heard a noise, and looked over to his right side. Archie was standing beside him, his arms folded over his chest. Odie screamed loudly and jumped about a foot in the air.

"Shut up!" Archie whisper-yelled. "Do you want to wake the whole house up?"

Odie shook his head. "What are you doing up for, anyways? It's six o'clock!"

"Couldn't sleep," Archie told him, "Had a weird night."

"Oh?" Odie said, "How so?"

Archie told him the whole story, from the tea to telling Atlanta that he loved her while she was sleeping.

"Jeez," Odie groaned, taking a carton of eggs from the fridge, "Bad form, Arch. Bad form!"

"Why?" Archie asked, "What are you talking about?"

"You can't just blurt things out like that," Odie told him, "ESPECIALLY to Atlanta. For all you know, she _could've _been awake and she _might've_ freaked out and that would have totally ruined the relationship you two currently have. And do you want that?"

"No," Archie muttered.

"Didn't quite hear that," Odie said, cupping a hand to his ear.

"NO!" Archie yelled, being quite more loudly than he meant to be.

"And you tell me to be quiet," Odie said under his breath as he cracked a couple of eggs into a large bowl and began to whisk them with a fork.

"God," Archie whispered. It was at that moment that Jay walked in, closely followed by Theresa.

"What's all the noise in here about?" Jay asked, "In case you haven't noticed, there're seven sleeping kids in the next room that I'm not sure we want woken up!"

Someone started crying down the hall, and it was long before six more cries joined in.

"Argh!" Jay exclaimed in exasperation, "Come on!"

He motioned for the others to join him and they all went down the hall to where the children were now awake.

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While her friends were all trying to calm the children down, Atlanta was lying on the couch, staring up at the ceiling. She didn't feel as crappy as she did yesterday, but at the same time she wasn't going to be kicking any monster ass anytime soon.

What had happened last night? Did she dream Archie's whole speech? And if she hadn't, it wasn't….they couldn't…….

Truthfully, Atlanta didn't know how to react. She didn't even know if she felt the same way. There were so many things to love about Archie. How he laughed at the jokes she told, even if they were totally lame, how he absolutely detested water, yet loved sitting inside and looking out at the rain, how he had tears in his eyes when they had watched, "A Walk to Remember", but turned his head before his friends could see him crying at such a sappy movie.

But he was so….so…..so Archie! Her best friend, her partner in crime! How come she didn't even have one hint he liked her in that way?

"_I lo-, I really care about you"_

"_You don't remember the ki-, kind things I said about you?"_

DARNIT!

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"Come on, kid," Jay said to Danny as he pushed him into the kitchen.

Danny stopped and stared up at the ceiling, his eyes wide.

"They're coming back," he whispered.

Jay leaned down beside the small boy. "Who's coming back? You're kind of scaring me, Danny."

"The monsters," Danny said quietly, "And that mean man!" He dissolved into tears and buried his head in Jay's chest.

Jay was confused for a second, and then realized what was happening. "Danny, it's okay. Was it a nightmare? Did you dream that?"

Danny didn't answer, he just continued crying.

"It's okay," Jay murmured, rubbing the child's back, "It wasn't real."

Danny opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted when he heard Herry shouting in the next room.

"Christy! Come on! You have to eat something!"

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Christy screamed, stomping her fists onto the table. A second later, Jay heard a shattering noise. He ran into the room, pulling Danny along with him.

"What broke?" their leader asked, edging into the room. He looked down at the floor at saw a smashed plate near the end of the table.

"That's it," Herry told Christy, "You're grounded!"

The little girl stared at him, and then cocked her head to one side.

"What's grounded?" she asked.

"Never mind," Herry grumbled.

Archie watched the scene as he sat in a chair off to the side, bouncing Tommy on his knee.

"Whatsa matter?" Tara asked him, cupping her chin in her tiny hands.

"Nothing," Archie said, "I'm just tired."

"Me too," Tara said, giving a dramatic little sigh, "Josh snores."

"Do not!" Josh shouted from where he was eating his eggs.

"Do too!" Tara yelled back at him.

"Do not!"

"Do too!"

"DO NOT!"

"DO TOO!"

"ENOUGH!" Theresa bellowed, "Can you both PLEASE be quiet? I need to concentrate!" Theresa's head was down, her eyes closed.

"Why?" Jay asked, sitting beside her, "Are you having a vision?"

"I think so," Theresa muttered. All of a sudden, her eyes shot open and she gave a gasp of surprise.

"Cronus!" she exclaimed.

"Told you," Danny said through a mouthful of cereal.

"So what do we do?" Odie asked as Jay paced up and down the tiles of the kitchen floor.

"Yeah," Neil butted in, "We can't exactly fight him right now!"

"I'm thinking," Jay told them. He stared up into space before saying: "Maybe we should just…..get out of here."

"And go where?" Archie asked angrily, "Maybe Theresa's just having a screwy vision. We don't exactly know if Cronus is coming right now!"

Just then, a crashing noise came from the next room, followed by Atlanta's yell of surprise.

"And I'm wrong," Archie whispered as the team ran to assist their friend.

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Atlanta quickly rolled off the couch as one of the giants, an ugly green one, charged at her. The monster tackled the piece of furniture, but when he noticed that Atlanta wasn't on it, he gave an angry roar and raised his enormous hand, ready to bring it down…….

…….When Archie lashed his Hephaestus whip at the creature's face, leaving an ugly gnash where the weapon had struck.

"About time," Atlanta breathed as Archie ran over to help her up.

"You're welcome," Archie smirked. Atlanta looked over as more giants burst into the house, each getting fended off by Theresa, Herry, and Jay.

"We have to get out of here!" Jay yelled, slashing his sword at the giant he was fighting, "Get the kids and we'll follow you!"

Archie and Atlanta nodded, and hobbled into the kitchen where Odie and Neil were protecting their little friends.

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"Come on, munchkins," Neil said, guiding the children out of the back exit, "There's been a change of plans!"

"Where are the others?" Odie asked.

"Coming soon," Archie reassured him. He hoisted Tara up onto his back and gathered Tommy into his arms. Odie grasped Lily's hand and supported Atlanta with the other. Neil towed the other kids while he followed his friends up the large hill in the back of the house.

As soon as the group reached the top of their climb, they looked back down at the house to see if Herry, Theresa, and Jay were coming after them. They weren't.

"I'm going down there," Archie said, beginning to make his way back down the hill.

"And leave us with what?" Odie asked him, causing Archie to stop in his tracks, "A bunch of kids? An injured Atlanta? We're not exactly prepared if Cronus or those giants come up here!"

Archie sighed and went back up to his friends.

"Three minutes," he told Odie, "Then I'm going down there."

"Oh, I'm afraid you'll have less time than that!" an evil voice cackled. The teenagers whirled around. It was Cronus. Behind them stood the three giants who attacked them before, holding Jay, Theresa, and Herry tightly in their grasps.

"Put them down!" Archie barked to the creatures, "NOW!"

The giants merely grunted with laughter and squeezed their friends harder. The three in their capture all writhed in pain.

"Now this is a predicament, isn't it Archie?" Cronus chuckled, "Out of the four of you, only one is able to fight. Yes, that is a problem, isn't it?"

Archie looked over at Atlanta, Odie, Neil, and the children with concern. Cronus was right, of course, but that didn't mean Archie still couldn't fight back.

The purple-haired boy charged at the god of time, taking his Hephaestus whip out of his pocket. Cronus merely moved out of the way as Archie tried to tackle him, and grabbed the boy's arm as he turned back around. He then held one of his scythes to Archie's throat.

"Now let's settle this out like adults," he said to the remaining three heroes, "You give me the seven precious children, and I'll let the rest of your team members go. If not….." He held the weapon closer to Archie's throat.

Odie and Atlanta linked eyes. There was no answer to this question. They couldn't let Jay, Archie, Herry, and Theresa die, but they weren't going to hand the kids over to Cronus either. Atlanta gulped. There was one more option. She just hoped it would work.

The young girl limped forward.

"I've got a bargain for you, Cronus," she said, "You want the prophecy destroyed, right? Forget about the kids. Take me instead. Then let the others go. If I'm dead, the prophecy will be no more and you'll rule the world. That's what you want, right?"

Cronus considered this for a moment. If Atlanta was gone, then he would be killing two birds with one stone.

"Alright," he decided, throwing Archie to the ground and walking up to Atlanta, grabbing her shoulder, "You're a very good negotiator, my dear."

"Atlanta!" Archie cried, starting to get up.

"Agnon, stop him!" Cronus ordered. The brown giant quickly ran over to Archie and hoisted him up in the air by the leg. Archie yelled in fury and tried to punch the monster.

Cronus chuckled and began to lower his scythe at Atlanta. She shivered as the blade got closer and closer……

"STOP!" a small voice cried from the group of children. Cronus instantly stopped.

"Who said that?" he demanded. Josh pushed his way through the others and stepped forward.

"What makes you think you're in charge of me, small one?" Cronus barked at him.

"Because you're a bully!" Josh exclaimed, "And you're a very, very bad man!"

"Oh, am I now?" Cronus asked.

"Stop it, Josh!" Theresa screamed, "Just get away from him!" But Josh wasn't listening.

"Theresa's friend needs me!" Josh shouted at Cronus, "So I have to help her!"

"What a courageous little boy," Cronus mused, "I hate that in children." He turned to Atlanta.

"Now, Atlanta, I know I said I'd kill you, but you're going to have to wait your turn."

"No!" Atlanta, "We had a deal, Cronus!"

"Which I've decided to break," Cronus told her, "Gods tend to do that sometimes."

Cronus walked towards Josh, his weapon high in the air. Josh covered his face to try and protect himself. Cronus's scythe was just about to slice through the boy's head, when someone tackled him to the ground.

"No!" Cronus gasped as he saw who it was, "It _can't be_!"

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**Dang. A cliffhanger. Don't you just hate those? I guess you'll just have to wait until the next (and final) chapter to see who's shown up to help save the day!**

**-GreenNoseRing**


	8. Endings and Beginnings

**Author's Note: As promised, here is the final chapter of "What I Like About You". But don't be sad. There will be a sequel. Or sequels. But first I have to finish one of the stories I have in the works that I have yet to put up.**

**Disclaimer-**

**SequinedRedPoppy: GreenNoseRing does not own Class of the Titans, but she does own their children. Why am I doing this again? Screw it; I'm gonna go get some Kool-Aid.**

**Me: ….Right.**

**Eighth and final chapter dedicated to the rest of you guys who added my story to your favorites. Emily Rae, SequinedRedPoppy (PEYTON!!!), The Wizard of Kazath, Winter-Rae, kitkat1327, this one's for all of you. I would have never finished this story if it wasn't for so many positive reviews. Fifty-nine and counting! Woo-hoo!**

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Jay looked up at who Cronus was staring at. He also was almost too stunned to speak at who he saw.

"Holy. Shit." he whispered, his mouth beginning to hang open slightly.

A tall man with brown hair and some stubble on his chin had knocked Cronus down. He was holding a xiphos blade in his callused hand, an exact copy of the one Jay had dropped in the cabin when he was taken by Cronus's giant. His dark brown eyes stared down at the god of time in cold fury.

It was _him_. Jay. Well, not Jay exactly, it couldn't be. That was scientifically impossible. But hey, anything could happen in New Olympia.

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Atlanta looked up from where her hands were clasped over her eyes, horrified that she might see Cronus standing over a dead Josh. But she didn't. Instead she saw a beautiful young woman with flowing ginger hair crouched over the little boy.

"Mommy!" Josh exclaimed happily, throwing his arms around the woman's neck.

'Mommy?' Atlanta thought, her head swimming with confused thoughts.

"Oh, my baby!" the women cooed, rubbing Josh's back, "My little Josh! I was so worried about you!"

"I'm fine, Mommy!" Josh told her, "I stood up to that mean man! And daddy saved me!"

Daddy? Now Atlanta really was bewildered.

"Need a hand?" a deep voice asked. Atlanta shot her head up, and saw that a man in his late twenties was standing over her, his hand outstretched. Atlanta smiled gratefully and took it, eager to get a good look at this guy.

He had bright purple hair, like Archie's, but a little bit longer. His bangs were almost hanging into his dark blue eyes. Atlanta's eyes widened and she rubbed them just to make sure she wasn't seeing things.

"Archie?" she asked. The man threw his head back and laughed.

"Lannie, Lannie, Lannie," he chuckled, "Nothing gets past you, does it? My God, you look just like I remember!"

As he said that, a short girl with short red hair walked up to the guy and slapped him on the upside of the head.

"Oww!" the man said angrily, "What the _hell_ was that for?"

"We're here five minutes and already you start flirting with my past self!" the woman bellowed.

"Excuse me?" Atlanta said, "Past self? Can somebody PLEASE explain to me what exactly what's going on here?"

"Oh jeez," the woman sighed, whacking herself on her forehead, "We've got some explaining to do."

"But not now," the purple-haired man winked, "I see a little boy in need of my assistance." He gestured over to where Archie was swinging madly to get out of the giant's grasp and ran over to help him.

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"Let…..me……go!" Archie grunted, trying to kick the giant across the cheek. The giant laughed and was about to knock Archie on his head when something caught the monster on the wrist. Upon looking at where the ropelike object holding it back was coming from, it was smacked on the face by someone's foot.

The giant grunted, dropping Archie as it staggered in pain. The teenage boy was about to fall headfirst into the ground when someone caught him.

"Careful there, buddy," his rescuer sniggered.

"Thanks," Archie breathed, still winded from his close call. He glanced at the guy, and was surprised to see that he looked very familiar. Not being able to think of anything else to say, he pointed at the stranger's violet tresses and said, "Nice hair."

"Nice one," the guy grinned. He stopped and stared at Archie. "Oh my GOD you're short!"

"Short?" Archie asked, "I don't really know who you are, and frankly, I don't give a shit…."

"You seriously don't know who I am?" the stranger said, "Look closer, Arch."

"And how do you know my name?" Archie asked, "Dude, you just can't come barging in here and…." He stopped, finally realizing why the guy looked so familiar. "Oh God. You're _me_, aren't you?"

"Damn straight," the guy nodded.

Archie almost fainted, right there.

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"Need some help?" a muscular guy with dark hair asked Theresa and Herry, who were still being held by the giants.

"You think?" Theresa asked sarcastically.

"Same old Theresa," the man laughed. He grabbed each giant by the leg, and tripped them both, grabbing both Herry and Theresa in the process.

"Ooof!" Herry muttered as he hit the man's rock solid arm, "Some muscle there!"

"Thanks," the man grinned as he placed both teenagers onto the ground.

"You look…..familiar," Theresa said, placing a finger on her chin.

"I should," the man told her, "You've been living with me for the past year!"

"What?!" Theresa and Herry yelled at the same time.

"I don't even know you!" Theresa said, backing away from the guy.

"This guy's a psycho," Herry whispered.

"Actually, I'm not," the man smiled, "I'm _you_."

Like Archie, Herry was so surprised he felt like he was going to faint. Unlike Archie, however, Herry actually did faint.

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"Herry,? Herry, wake up," Theresa whispered as she shook her friend's shoulder.

"Huh?" Herry murmured, sitting straight up. All of his friends were crouched around him "Theresa? Where is he? Is he still there? Did I dream that?"

"Um……no," Theresa admitted, "But it's okay. He's here to help."

"I have NO idea what's happening here," Herry said, shaking his head back and forth as if to block the memory of the insane guy claiming to be him out of his mind.

"Join the club," Neil said, "These two guys come over to me and Odie, claiming to be the future us. Then Scott and Lily run up to them and start calling them, "Daddy".

More voices started yelling. Herry looked up and saw that seven people, including the "future Herry" fighting off the giants. The one who had thrown Cronus away from Josh still had the god of time pinned to the ground.

"They're us," Atlanta whispered, "They're us, but as adults. The kids are _their_ kids."

"_Our_ kids," Odie corrected her.

"Our kids," Archie echoed. He looked over to the children, who were watching their parents fight with so much admiration in their eyes.

"Go Mommy!" Tara yelled as the red-haired woman hit a giant to the ground.

"Mama!" Tommy gurgled happily, clapping his tiny hands together.

Suddenly, a thought came to Archie's head. Supposedly, he thought, Tommy was his child that he would have in a few years or more. He saw now that the kid looked a lot like him when he thought about it. But then why was he calling the future Atlanta his mother? Maybe the baby was just copying Tara, as babies do. But if not, that could only mean…..

His eyes darted over to Atlanta, to see if she had realized this. Apparently she hadn't. She was too busy watching her future self continue beating up the giant.

"I kick _ass_!" she exclaimed happily as she watched the woman and the other adults beginning to rope up the giants.

Archie chuckled at this, looking up and down at his red-haired friend. She was so beautiful, her eyes lighting up as she laughed. Could it be possible that one day this was the girl he was going to marry and have children with?

"Argh!" a shout shot over the hills. The team looked over and saw that Cronus had finally been able to get up, and was now holding future Jay onto the ground by his foot.

"You shouldn't have tried to change the past, Jay!" the god smiled, "I'm the god of time! I know everything! Including knowing that your little children are going to try and stop me in my future! But with you gone, I don't think that will be possible! There does have to be _seven_ after all!"

He was about to lower his scythe onto the future Jay's neck, when the younger Theresa ran up and knocked the weapon out of his hand.

"Don't you touch him!" she yelled, taking out her nun chucks.

"You think you can stop me, Theresa?" Cronus asked.

"No," the future Theresa said, walking over, "But she has help." The team, future and past selves, all sprinted over and stood around Cronus. He had no escape.

"This is from Pan!" Atlanta said, running up to Cronus and slapping him across the face.

"This is from Campe!" Herry shouted, punching the god and sending him to the ground.

"This is from Polyphemus!" Odie said, hitting Cronus in the stomach.

"This is from Eros!" Neil said, kicking him in the face.

"This is from Hephaestus!" Theresa exclaimed, whacking Cronus with her nun chucks again.

"And this is from us!" Archie smirked, cutting one of Cronus's hands off with his Hephaestus whip. The god gave a shriek of pain and clutched his bloodied wrist. He then looked up at the team with a look of desperation on his face. For a second, he looked so pathetic that the group almost felt sorry for him. But then they remembered all the pain and suffering he had caused so many people and the anger came back quickly.

"Can't we at least talk about this?" Cronus asked frantically.

"No," Jay told him, picking up a large rock and throwing it at the god's head, instantly knocking him unconscious.

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"I can still remember this day!" the future Jay said, leaning against the wall of New Olympia Secondary School. After Jay had knocked Cronus out, the two Odie's' had gone back to the Brownstone and flown the jet out. Hera had then alerted Campe and gotten her to take Cronus and his giants back to Tartarus.

"It was great a second time around," future Theresa said, sliding her fingers through his. Younger Jay and Theresa both looked at each other, their faces turning slightly pink.

"So what happens now?" the young Atlanta asked. Chiron had stitched her cut together and she was now sporting pale white bandages under her blue sports jersey.

"I don't think we should spoil the surprise," her future self winked.

"I don't want to go home," Odie said, looking up from where he and the older Odie were playing patty cake with Lily.

"Yeah," Neil agreed. He had finally come out of a heated debate with his future self about who was the better looking. "You guys are the best friends I've ever had."

"We don't have to go yet," Jay said, "There wasn't anything in the prophecy about having to leave the city when we defeated Cronus."

Theresa, who was very happy to hear this, threw her arms around her leader's neck. Jay was startled at first, but then relaxed into the embrace.

"Hey, Terri? Can I talk to you for a second?" he asked.

"Sure," Theresa said.

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Theresa followed Jay to Persephone's solarium, where the two immediately sat down on one of the many couches.

"So what's up?" Theresa asked. Jay looked at her, unsure of how to say what he was thinking. A second later, he cleared his throat and began to speak.

"Theresa, I didn't want to say this before, in case you freaked out or something. But things happened today that got me thinking. I need you. I need you to get me through the day and to help me fall asleep at night knowing that you're beside me. I came to New Olympia thinking that I could make a difference. That I could save the world. But what also happened is that I…..I fell in love"

Theresa stared at him, her eyes slowly turning wet.

'_Oh crap,'_ Jay thought, _'What a dumb ass move, Jay! Now she thinks that you're some twisted stalker or something! She's going to go home, and I'm never going to see her again! And all because have such a freaking huge mouth!'_

But Theresa didn't freak out. Instead, she smiled and took Jay's hand.

"I fell in love with you, too, Jay," she laughed, "In one stupid, fast-paced year, I fell in love with you!" She leaned in towards the boy and brushed his bangs away from his eyes. Then, as Jay placed a hand on one of Theresa's cheeks, their lips pressed together in a kiss that seemed to last forever.

The door opened, and Jay and Theresa were still locked in their embrace.

"Hey guys?" Herry asked as he walked into the room, followed by Odie and Neil. "Athena's here. She's going to send the kids and us…..err…..the _future_ us back." He stopped when he saw what his friends were doing.

"At long last!" Odie cheered.

"Seriously guys," Neil said, "We had bets going for when you two would finally hook up!"

The new couple blushed and followed the boys out of the room, arm in arm.

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"You're sending them back already?" Atlanta asked as Athena said her plan again when Jay and Theresa arrived.

"I have to," Athena said, "There are events happening in the future where they are needed. You have five minutes to say your goodbyes." Athena walked to the tops of the school's steps with the adults, watching the teenagers saying farewell to the kids.

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"Bye Josh," Theresa murmured as the small boy hugged her, tears rolling down her face and into his hair.

"Bye Theresa," Josh said, "Don't forget about me, okay?"

"How could I forget about you?" Theresa asked, "You were so brave today! And you saved Atlanta's life!"

"Yeah," Josh smiled. Theresa leaned down and kissed the small boy on top of his ginger curls.

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"You take care of yourself, alright Danny?" Jay asked his little friend.

"I will," Danny promised, "I love you, Jay."

"Love you, too, kid," Jay said as he rubbed Danny on the back.

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"Let's arm wrestle again, okay?" Christy said to Herry.

"Okay," Herry agreed, "One last time." The two leaned down onto the cement staircase and joined their hands together. Unlike the last two times, however, Herry won.

"Maybe one day you'll be able to beat me again," Herry said, patting Christy on her shoulder.

"I let you win that time," Christy smirked, "I didn't want you to be sad."

"That was nice of you," Herry told her, "But I think we should go once more, just to be fair."

Christy giggled and laced her fingers through Herry's again.

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"Please don't cry, Lily," Odie begged, "We'll see each other again, I promise."

"I'm not going to stop crying until you stop crying," Lily sobbed.

"I'm not crying," Odie insisted, even though he was.

"I'm gonna miss you, Odie," Lily whimpered, burying her face into Odie's shirt.

"I'll miss you too," Odie said, "But it's not going to be forever."

"Promise?" Lily asked, looking up at him.

"I promise," Odie said, "Say hi to your mommy for me, okay?"

Lily wiped a stray tear away from her cheek and nodded.

X0X0X0X0X0X0X0X0X0X0X0X0X0X0

Neil and Scott sat with their backs leaning together, their arms crossed.

"So I guess this is goodbye," Neil said.

"Yeah," Scott said.

"Are you going to miss me?" they both asked at the same time. The two boys looked at each other and smiled.

"No duh I'm going to miss you," Neil told Scott, "It was pretty cool to have someone around here who admired me."

Scott laughed.

"Here, take this," Neil said, pulling his gold mirror out of his back pocket, "You'll need it someday when you're the ladies man of your high school."

Scott gave a small gasp of happiness and wrapped his tiny arms around Neil's waist.

"You're my best friend, Neil," he murmured.

"You're my best friend too, little guy," Neil grinned, hugging him back.

X0X0X0X0X0X0X0X0X0X0X0X0X0X0

"Well, I guess this is it," Archie said.

"I guess," Atlanta said. They looked down at Tommy and Tara.

"This is goodbye, you guys," Archie said to them.

"I don't want to go!" Tara cried, tears slowly beginning to flow down her cheeks.

"No go! No go!" Tommy shouted.

"But don't you want to go back to your home again?" Atlanta asked.

"This is our home!" Tara said.

"No," Atlanta shook her head, "Your home is with your mommy and daddy. Don't you think they want to spend time with you again?"

"Yeah," Tara said under her breath.

"But we'll see you again someday," Archie said, "Maybe sooner than you think, so watch out!" He grabbed Tara and began to tickle her stomach.

"Stop it! Stop it!" Tara laughed hysterically. Archie smiled and put her down. Atlanta picked up Tommy and kissed him on the cheek.

"Bye-bye, Momma," the baby cooed, kissing her back.

"Bye-bye," Atlanta whispered.

X0X0X0X0X0X0X0X0X0X0X0X0X0X0

After their goodbyes, the team took the kids up to their parents.

"Stand back," Athena instructed the teenagers, "It took almost all my power to get them here, and it's going to take almost the rest of it to get them back."

The goddess rose her hands up in the air, and they began to glow a golden color. She then lowered them and then shot the light onto the adults and their children. They all waved, and the heroes waved back. A second later they had vanished.

"I'm so proud of you," Athena told the team, "You managed to take care of the kids _and_ defeated Cronus."

"Yeah," Jay said, "It seems like everything we ever knew is coming to an end."

"I don't know," Theresa told him, "I think it's just beginning!"

"Yeah," Jay smiled, "I think I like that one better."

X0X0X0X0X0X0X0X0X0X0X0X0X0X0

**_And the story finally comes to a close. But don't fret, my friends. There will be two sequels! The first one won't have the kids in it, but will develop Archie and Atlanta's relationship further from where it picked up in this story. It will be up as soon as I'm done finishing and posting my next story, which is entitled, "Dare You To Move". I won't tell you what it's about, _(although I'm pretty sure Winter-Rae knows) _but I hope that you'll enjoy it as much as you enjoyed, "What I Like About You". See you later!_**

_**-GreenNoseRing**_


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